Italic Banded Agate Scarab with Kneeling Warrior in Gold Mount

Mould-made figure of a female upper body with tall curved and conical headdress, hair dressed in braids falling to her shoulders and flanking her breasts, arms spread and right hand curled to grip a handle or sword-hilt; beneath, a tapering mounting peg for attachment to a roof. 411 grams, 26 cm



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12207-222349.

The antefix belongs to the typical decorative scheme of alternating figures decorating the tiles at the ends of the eaves of the roof, constituting a serial decoration. It has the form of a female head, the details of which were defined through finely detailed plastic and polychrome painting, now lost. The head is crowned with a helmet, which can help identify her with the warrior goddess Athena.

Hoop made from D-section wire with coils to the shoulders, scarab bezel with carapace detailing and intaglio of a standing nude figure of Hercules holding a club and amphora at a stream, enclosed by a roped border. 5.73 grams, 22.52 mm overall, 18.68 x 16.58 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P, USA 7 1/2, Europe 16.23, Japan 15)



Acquired on the UK art market. Private collection, England.

A gold necklace or diadem composed of twenty-two articulated units each in the form of a complex shields terminating in finials decorated with palmettes executed in filigree; body consists of shield-shaped jet(?) elements with a central rhomboid panel, joined above and below by triangular sections decorated with granulated triangles; the perimeter of each shield framed by a soldered beaded wire; at the centre of each rhomboid panel, an embossed appliqué mask in low relief; to the reverse of each element, two vertically aligned loops formed from narrow gold strips and intended for articulation; offered in a lined wooden display case. 22.5 grams, 21.6 cm



Ex M. Velensky collection, London, UK, 1990s. Accompanied by a copy of a four page examination report number 90/2015 by Dr habil Mikhail Treister. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13104-248043.

The terminals are comparatively rare survivals, decorated with palmettes in filigree, a feature only occasionally attested among comparable assemblages from Bosporan contexts. The overall typology, decorative programme, and construction techniques closely parallel examples recovered from well-documented burials at Phanagoria, Pantikapaion, Tanais, and Tsukur-Liman. Comparable necklaces combining shield elements with embossed human heads are particularly characteristic of the 3rd-2nd centuries BC. According to the examination conducted by Dr habil. Mikhail Treister, there is nothing to challenge the authenticity of the object. The specific form, restricted geographic distribution, and close parallels suggest manufacture within a workshop of the Bosporan Kingdom, most plausibly in Phanagoria, one of its principal production centres during the Hellenistic period.